WOODLAND, Calif. – Federal immigration authorities have arrested a former Northern California priest and are preparing to deport him to Mexico after he admitted having unlawful sex with a 16-year-old altar girl.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say agents arrested 46-year-old Hector Coria Gonzales at his home in Davis on Friday.

He was being held without bond at a county facility while his case is reviewed by an immigration court.

Gonzales pleaded guilty to statutory rape in Yolo County Superior Court in July for engaging in sexual acts with a 16-year-old girl who belonged to the St. James' Parish in Davis where he served as a priest.

He was in the country legally, but that changed when the Catholic Church stripped him of his priesthood after his conviction.